C&VG


Cloud Kingdoms
By Millennium
Amiga 500

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #102

Cloud Kingdoms

Poor Terry; he's had an unfortunate life. But then again, there's not much call for small, green, rubber-bottomed balls in the community. Shunned by the locals and despised by other, less-socially aware balls, he ascends to the Cloud Kingdoms, where he at last finds a use for himself. Baron von Bonsai has enslaved the Cloud Fairies and stolen all of their power crystals so they cannot use magic. And as the only way of rescuing a fairy is to send a green ball to their aid, Terry is given the job.

And what a job it is! Terry must collect all the crystals from 32 different multi-directionally scrolling kingdoms. The baron isn't nearly so stupid as to let him roll through unchallenged though, so he's positioned a number of guards in each of the kingdoms, whose task it is to stop Terry's quest by holding him up long enough for each level's time limit to run out, thus ending the game and any chance of the fairies' rescue.

But fate doth smile on our young sphere in some small way, by offering a selection of helpful items to make life a little simpler, items such as energy-giving bottles of pop, paint pots which let Terry paint in walkways and wings that allow a few moments of flight. Terry much beware the bad items which include beer bottles, making the round roller super-tiddly, and of course the hazards which are built into each kingdom such as icy floors, holes in the ground and pinball bumpers.

Amiga

Cloud Kingdoms

Cloud Kingdoms is a game not unlike Quedex in both looks and, to a small extent, gameplay. But instead of a lifeless ball you have a sad-looking, green sphere which you can't help but feel sorry for, especially after considering the enormity of his task.

Cloud Kingdoms is difficult from the word go, but the challenge is a stimulating and addictive one. You aren't limited by lives, but each time death rears its ugly head the time limit shoots down, making for a frustrating first few attempts. Once you get into the swing of things however, it doesn't take too long to suss out the best way to tackle each stage (although actually putting the theory into practice is far trickier!).

Nice to look at, as well as jolly good fun to play, Cloud Kingdoms makes a pleasant change from all the licensed stuff kicking around of late.

C64

Cloud Kingdoms

Due to memory restrictions, the number of levels on the C64 version has been cut from 32 to 15, and some of the baddie sprites have been omitted. That said, the gameplay has been tweaked to make it generally more difficult than the 16-bit versions, whilst retaining the addictive qualities of the other formats.

So despite the drop in quantity, Cloud Kingdoms hangs on to its quality - and playability.

Atari ST

What little differences there are between this and the Amiga version are purely cosmetic - the game itself remains an enjoyable arcade puzzle romp.

Paul Rand

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